Been There, Done That
|Season = 3 |Antagonist = House of Lycost, House of Menos |Setting = Greece |In-Universe Date = Year 2 |Production # = V0227 |Filming Dates = 9 April to 16 April 1997 |Original Air-Date = |Written By = Hilary J. Bader |Story By = |Teleplay By = |Directed By = Andrew Merrifield |Order in Series = 48 of 134 |Order in Season = 2 of 22 |Order in Franchise= 114 of 304 |Prev Episode in Series = "The Furies" |Next Episode in Series = "The Dirty Half Dozen" |Prev Episode in Franchise = "Hero's Heart" |Next Episode in Franchise = "Regrets... I've Had a Few" |title cap image = }} When Xena is the only person who realizes that the day is repeating itself, it is up to her to work out what it is that is causing it. Summary It's dawn in the stables. The rooster crows. Argo eats an apple. Joxer walks into the stable carrying a helmet full of goose eggs and gets bonked on the head by a horseshoe. The stable boy peeks down below, hoping he hasn't hit anything. And Gabrielle is annoyed with Joxer. Xena asks where she get horseshoes for Argo, and the stable boy says the other side of town. He also says that the owner is from a rival house. Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer head into the town square the first day, where they witness a confrontation between two feuding families: the House of Menos and the House of Lycost. When Joxer gets in the middle of the fight, he is stabbed and dies. Later that afternoon, Gabrielle mourns at his funeral. Xena comforts a distressed Gabrielle and she embraces her in her arms as they fall to sleep. It's dawn again the following day at the stables and when Xena wakes up, she hears a familiar voice -- it's Joxer. He's alive. Gabrielle and Joxer have no memory of the previous day, but Xena remembers it all. This time, Xena gets Joxer away from the fight, only for him to stumble into another one. Xena stops that fight, only for the Lycost fighter to get killed. But when they get back to the stable, they find Argo dead, killed by an angry mob, but when Xena wakes up the next morning, Argo is still alive. Xena realizes that if the day is repeating itself. She hears of an old man getting run over, so one day, she saves him. But Gabrielle ends up getting killed in the fights. The loop continues. Perhaps she can save the feuding families from a bloodbath and break the cycle. She learns about the houses from a midwife, even learning that Lady Menos actually saved the lives of Lady Lycost and her baby following childbirth, but it still doesn't work. Xena realizes that the task is nearly impossible, but that she must be continually overlooking something small. Ultimately, Xena learns that beautiful young Hermia has drunk a vial of stolen poison, sure she will never be allowed to marry her beloved Neron. Akin to the Romeo and Juliet tragedy, the young lovers are certain that the hatred between their respective Houses will keep them apart forever. Neron tells Xena that Cupid couldn't cure Hermia or turn back time, so Neron wished that the next day (when Hermia would die from the poison) would never come. Cupid agreed and declared the spell would be broken when a hero arrived to set things right. Neron thought Cupid meant Hercules or Sinbad, but it turns out Xena is the hero. Xena spends the next day carefully measuring almost every angle and surface in town, even as the villagers slaughter each other around her. As the events of the fateful day unfold once again, Xena initiates a stunning long-distance maneuver with her chakram, not only knocking the poison from Hermia's grasp but averting every single death that could possibly have happened that day. Xena is finally able to bring the town feud to an end. Lord Menos and Lord Lycost decide to make peace and they agree to the marriage of Hermia and Neron. Xena is pleased to wake up the next morning to a brand new day. Disclaimer "The rooster was not harmed during the production of this motion picture, although his feathers were severely ruffled. However, a little gel and mousse straightened out the mess." Background Information Behind the Scenes *This episode was one of seventeen that fans selected to be featured on the Xena: Warrior Princess: 10th Anniversary Collection, and is thus considered one of the greatest episodes in history. * At one point, Neron meekly says, "Well, frankly, I-I was expecting Hercules or at least Sinbad...": The Adventures of Sinbad was a short-lived syndicated series that competed with and . *When Lucy Lawless was told that producer Liz Friedman was lesbian she said, "If I`d only known! She`s the first woman I`ve worshiped! I`d crawl 40 miles through broken glass just to wank off in her shadow!": This was paraphrased in a line about Joxer in this episode as an in-joke. *Lucy Lawless ad-libbed several lines and gestures in the episode that were added in the final cut. These include the line Xena said about Joxer willing to crawl 50 miles in broken glass for Gabrielle, the line of Joxer asking Xena "Is that a hickey?", as well as Xena sucking her thumb when laying back down after killing Joxer and placing the turnips questionably in front of Gabrielle at the end. *In an interview, Lucy Lawless stated that she had to keep very accurate notes with this episode because they shot it out of sequence. She stated that she had a large list she would make each day about what her character knew at the time so she could act properly. *This episode's script number is 224. As with the previous episode, it was also filmed during series two and was originally intended to air in that series. However, the TPTB wouldn't let the producers have 24 episodes and so they became the first two episodes of this series. Goofs *Many fans claim that this episode has the longest (distance-wise) chakram flight: it is in fact surpassed in this regard by the throw at the end of "Coming Home." Trivia *Joxer questions the scar on Xena's breast, asking her if it's a hickey. This is an actual scar which Lucy Lawless bears, and so the writers included a reason for the scar in "A Friend in Need Part I," depicting Xena in a fight with a fierce samurai, who pushes her into a spiked wall. *This episode mirrors events similar to the 1993 film Groundhog Day and to the 1970 novel Time Trap by Kieth Laumer in which the day also repeats itself. *Chakram Count: 3 **1. to kill the rooster **2. to hit Joxer in the chest **3. to throw all over town, save Casca and break Hermia's poison vial Links and References Guest Stars *Ted Raimi as Joxer *Norman Fairley as Lord Lycost *John McKee as Lord Menos *Joseph Murray as Neron *Rebekah Davies as Hermia *Deverik Williams as Tybelus *Norman Forsey as Casca *John Glass as Tius *Mary Woodward as Altara *John Smythe as Apothecary *Marek Sumich (credited as Marek Summich) as Edos *Alastair Duncan (credited as Neill Duncan as Perion *Rodney Cook (credited as Rodney Cooke) as Man #1 *Campbell Rousselle as Man #2 References People *Xena *Gabrielle *Joxer *Argo *Hercules (Mentioned) *Sinbad (Mentioned) *Bacchae (Mentioned) Gods *The Furies (Mentioned) *Ares (Mentioned) Places *Greece Other Season Navigation de:Und täglich grüßt Joxer Category:XWP Season 3 episodes Category:Episodes Featuring Joxer